One Year In

It’s been one year since the pandemic “officially” began. Of course, preppers were well aware of the impending danger well before the WHO finally declared the pandemic. When this was all just getting started, we really didn’t know what to expect. Would it mean a mass population die off? Would there be mayhem in the streets? All in all, it was a lot less devastating than it could have been, but it was bad enough that we, as preppers, were able to get a glimpse of what could happen.

Mass Abandonment Of Emergency Services Personnel.

Here is one preparedness theory that rang true. It has been a long standing theory that emergency personnel would be missing either because they were affected by the actual emergency or out of fear of the actual emergency. We did, in fact, see this happen. Health care workers were in short supply either because they contracted the virus or refused to report to workout of fear of contracting the virus. This was particularly true in long term care facilities. While this was, and still is, a medical situation it stands to reason that medical workers will be the ones not showing up. If we consider other types of emergencies, such as a devastating earthquake, we can easily come to the conclusion that police and/or firefighters would be affected in the same way.

WROL (without rule of law) VS EROL (excessive rule of law).

Many preppers are fully aware that the rule of law may very well go out the window after a massive disaster event. While this may be true, we have learned that an excessive rule of law is more likely. Sure, WROL may become the new normal, but I would argue that it would be preceded by EROL as governments race to keep order and control of their powers. Thankfully, this was not a mass killing situation and we were never really close to a WROL situation, but we sure can see the EROL clear as day. Businesses and schools were shut down. Restrictions were placed o our ability to travel. Curfews were put into place. The list goes on.

Shortages Of Supplies.

This is where it gets weird. There were shortages on things that made sense at the time such as masks, particularly N95 types. There were shortages on things that made no sense whatsoever, such as toilet paper. There were limits placed on the amount of certain goods you could buy. I remember limits on vegetables in stores, both frozen and canned. There were short term shortages on products such as meat due to outbreaks in processing plants. There were shortages on things like flour as people, stuck at home from work, took up fad hobbies such as baking or vegetable seeds as people took up gardening to pass the time and stave off boredom. Eventually we saw shortages on construction materials as governments boosted construction projects in an effort to stimulate the economy. The lesson? There is no rhyme or reason to what will be in short supply.

Disinformation.

Keyboard warriors are the worst. I’m not here to tell you what information we’ve seen pop up on social media and prepper websites over the past year is true or not. That is something you have to decide for yourself. Suffice it to say, there has been a lot of half truths, misinterpreted facts, and out right horse hockey out there lately. It can be difficult to sort through and make sense of it all.

Economic Depression.

Businesses shutting down means unemployment goes up. Add to that all the government spending that will need to be repaid and we have the works of economic disaster on top of the underlying problem. This can take years, even decades to recover from. Even if businesses are reopened fully, it will take time for them to recover their customer base, if they reopen at all. Governments with massive, record breaking debt will have no choice but to increase taxation, cut services, or possibly both. Life is bound to be more expensive for a while, even after we return to a fully open society.

Sure, the past year has been a wild ride, but it’s been a ride we can learn from. Were you affected financially? Build up more savings. Did you have to go without something that was in short supply? Stock up now. Were you confused by all the differing “facts”? Learn to be skeptical.

It’s been a year now since the “official” declaration of the pandemic, and we very well could be in for another year of it, not to mention the long lasting effects. Be ready, learn from the first two waves, and make sure you are ready for either a third wave of this virus, or the next one to come along. Trust me, this will likely not be the last pandemic you live through.